Impact resistant wrapping system

Abstract: An impact-resistant wrapping system includes a sheetlike wrapping body (1) having a cavity (13) surrounded by a flexible wall member (11) with gas-barrier properties and a gas-generating capsule (2) in which at least two types of materials for generating a gas to expand the cavity (13) of the sheetlike wrapping body (1). The materials are separately sealed by a film and can be mixed with each other upon being depressed, wherein a portion permeable only to the gas is formed in at least a part of the gas-generating capsule (2), while the gas-generating capsule (2) is accommodated in the cavity (13) of the sheetlike wrapping body (1).

Description: The present invention relates to an impact resistant wrapping system and, more particularly, to improvements in versatility and handling properties of an impact resistant wrapping system in which an impact resistant space capable of expanding or being inflated with a gas is formed around an article to be wrapped. For example, a conventional impact resistant wrapping system described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Public Disclosure No. SHO 54-136985 is known as an impact resistant wrapping system for forming an impact resistant space expanding with a gas. In this prior art system, a sealed annular chamber of a double structure is made of a synthetic resin film having gas barrier properties inside a cylindrical shape. In this impact resistant wrapping system, after an article to be wrapped is inserted into the sealed annular chamber, air is injected into the sealed annular chamber to form an impact resistant space constituted by the expanded and sealed annular chamber around the article. In this prior art system, the article must be inserted inside the sealed annular chamber. For this reason, this wrapping system can be applied only to articles having cylindrical (e.g., a circular cylinder) or columnar shape or a shape equivalent thereto and it lacks versatility. Also in Japanese Patent-Application publication No. SHO 63-502099 (corresp. to International Application No. WO87/02012 (PCT/US86/01989)), a protective envelope for containing a fragile article is proposed, in which elastic cushion material is stuffed in the compressed flat state in between airtight membranes which are folded double and which constituite protective envelope. This prior art protective envelope cannot cope with a variety of articles that are different in shape. This is because the envelope has a definite shape which is defined by basically sealing the envelope along the lateral edges and bottom edges of the membranes so as to form an upper opening. Thus, this protective envelope cannot be reused nor applied to articles having various shapes, and it has limitations due to its capacity for wrapping an article. Furthermore, under US Patent 5,402,892 (US Serial No. 08/113660), a wrapping system is proposed for protecting various fragile articles from a shock, in which inflatable cushion material is stuffed in the flat state and it expands to enhance the cushioning effect when wrapping an article. This prior art wrapping system cannot have adequate handling properties. This is because the system has a structure for effective air injection by cutting an outer membrane in order to form an impact-resistant space. Thus, cumbersome operations, such as air injection, are required, resulting in inadequate handling. EP-A-0,170,229 discloses a wrapping system in accordance with the preamble of Claim 1. The present invention has been made in consideration of the conventional drawbacks described above, and its object is to provide a highly versatile, impact-resistant wrapping system having excellent handling properties and being capable of wrapping articles having a variety of shapes and sizes by means of simple operations. The present invention provides an impact-resistant wrapping system in accordance with Claim 1. This wrapping system has the flexible sheetlike wrapping body deformable to any shape conforming to the shape of any article to be wrapped. For this reason, the wrapping system can wrap articles having different shapes and sizes. Upon depression of the gas-generating capsule accommodated inside the sheetlike wrapping body, the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body is filled with the gas, thereby forming an expanded impact resistant space. Therefore, a highly versatile, impact-resistant wrapping system is provided, having excellent handling properties and being capable of wrapping articles having a variety of shapes and sizes by means of simple operations. As described above, the impact-resistant wrapping system according to the present invention has a deformable, flexible, sheetlike wrapping body, and the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body can be filled with the gas to form the expanded impact-resistant space upon depressing only the gas-generating capsule. For these reasons, articles having a variety of shapes and sizes can be wrapped by means of simple operations, thereby providing a highly versatile, easy-to-handle wrapping system. The impact-resistant wrapping system is characterized thereby that the inner surfaces of the flexible wall member of the sheetlike wrapping body, on which inner surfaces oppose each other via the cavity, are partially adhered to. Abnormal expansion of a part of the impact-resistant space can be prevented by partial adhesion of the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body. The impact-resistant wrapping function around the article can be made uniform, because abnormal expansion of a part of the impact-resistant space can be prevented by partial adhesion of the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body. The impact-resistant wrapping system is characterized thereby that the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body is partitioned into a plurality of compartments and that the gas-generating capsule is accommodated in each of the compartments. An impact-resistant space to be expanded is partitioned or selected by partitioning the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body. The impact-resistant space of a necessary compartment only, which is required for the impact-resistant wrapping of an article, is formed to obtain a suitable impact-resistant wrapping form of the article because an impact resistant space to be expanded is partitioned or selected by partitioning the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body. At the same time, even if the gas leaks, this leakage is limited to a specific compartment or compartments. Therefore, the impact-resistant space of the entire sheetlike wrapping body will not be lost. The impact-resistant wrapping system is characterized thereby that the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body is defined by a plurality of cavity layers stacked on each other and that the gas-generating capsule is accommodated in each one of the stacked layers. An impact-resistant space to be expanded is stacked or selected by stacking the cavity layers in the sheetlike wrapping body. As described above, an impact resistant space to be expanded is stacked or selected by stacking the cavity layers in the sheetlike wrapping body, so that the impact-resistant space is formed in a portion which requires protection of the article, thereby obtaining an appropriate form of the impact-resistant wrapping function for the article. In addition, the impact-resistant wrapping function can be improved by the stacked impact-resistant spaces. In addition, if each layer of an impact-resistant space is formed at a time, the wrapping system can be repeatedly used the number of times corresponding to the number of stacked spaces, without requiring reinjection of the gas, air or the like. The impact-resistant wrapping system is characterized by comprising connecting means, mounted on an outer surface of a flexible wall member, to hold the sheetlike wrapping body in an appropriate shape. The connecting means can hold the wrapped state of the article in the sheetlike wrapping body. The article can be easily wrapped, because the connecting means can hold the wrapped state of the article in the sheetlike wrapping body. The impact-resistant wrapping system is characterized by comprising an elastic impact-resistant material which is compressed and accommodated in the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body. The elastic impact resistant material expands and is filled into the expanded impact resistant space. Even if a gas leaks, a considerably sufficient impact resistant space can be retained by the elastic impact-resistant material, because the elastic impact-resistant material expands and is filled into the expanded impact-resistant space. The impact-resistant wrapping air system is characterized by comprising an exhaust valve, which is mounted in such a way as to communicate with the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body, to exhaust the gas outside the cavity. When the exhaust-gas valve is opened to exhaust the gas, the gas, which has expanded the impact-resistant space, is released outside the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body, while the impact-resistant space contracts. The gas, which has expanded the impact-resistant space, can be exhausted outside the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body upon opening the exhaust-air valve, so that the impact-resistant space shrinks to allow for an easy unwrapping of the article. The impact-resistant wrapping system is characterized thereby that the exhaust-air valve has a structure capable of reinjecting a gas, air or the like again into the cavity of the sheetlike wrapping body and of sealing the cavity. The shrunken impact-resistant space can be expanded again by reinjecting and sealing the gas, air or the like again from a portion, except for the gas-generating capsule through the exhaust-air valve. The impact-resistant wrapping system can be used again because the shrunken impact-resistant space can be expanded again by reinjecting and sealing the gas, air or the like from the portion, except for the gas-generating capsule through the exhaust-air valve. One way of carrying out the invention is described in detail below with reference to drawings which illustrate only one specific embodiment, in which:- FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway, perspective view showing an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof in Fig. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an operated state of the system in Fig. 2, FIGS. 4A to 4C are sectional views showing operated states of the main part in FIGS. 2 and 3, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the wrapping structure of one main part (gas-generating capsule), as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a modification of the impact-resistant wrapping system in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an applied state of another main part (exhaust-air valve) in FIG. 1; FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another applied state of the system in FIG. 7, Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing a sealed state after the application state in FIG. 8, FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a modification of FIGS. 7 to 9, FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an application of the impact resistant wrapping system, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another application different from that in FIG. 11, FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway, perspective view showing an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing an applied state of an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16 is a sectional view showing a completely wrapped state in FIG. 15. The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of this invention. FIGS. 1 to 12 show an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sheetlike wrapping body 1 is formed in such a way that a single flexible wall member 11 is folded, while three sides are adhered to by adhesive application or thermal-solvent welding to constitute seal portions 12. The sheetlike wrapping body 1 has a cavity 13 defined by the flexible wall member 11. The flexible wall member 11 has gas-barrier properties which inhibit gas permeation, or it has a very low permeability. At the same time, the flexible wall member 11 has flexibility which allows deformation to conform to the shape of an article P. The flexible wall member 11 consists of a single-layered synthetic-resin film, a multilayered synthetic-resin film, a laminated metal film or the like. In the formation of the seal portions 12, the cavity 13 is deaerated to bring opposing inner surfaces 11a of the flexible wall member 11 into tight contact with each other as much as possible, thereby minimizing the total thickness of the sheetlike wrapping body 1. Spot-welded portions 14 with an adhesive or the like are partially formed on the opposing inner surfaces 11a of the flexible wall member 11 in the deaerated state of the cavity 13. A gas-generating capsule 2, capable of producing a gas G nontoxic to man, such as oxygen, nitrogen or carbon dioxide, is accommodated inside the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C in detail, the gas-generating capsule 2 has a partition film 22 inside a vessel 21. In this gas-generating capsule 2, one material A consisting of a liquid or solid material is separated from the other material consisting of a liquid or solid material through the partition film 22. When the partition film 22 is destroyed, these materials A and B are mixed with each other to cause a chemical reaction, thereby generating the gas G which is used to inflate the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1. For example, if the gas G is oxygen, the material A consists of manganese dioxide, while the materila B consists of an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide. A variety of solid materials, each obtained by bonding a water-soluble derivative to a gas as a material for chemical experiments, horticulture, or aquariums have become available recently. Such a material can be used as the material A, while water is used as the material B. Preferably, materials A and B, which do not chemically react with each other at a high temperature nor cause a chemical reaction to produce a gas which may damage the vessel 21, are selected. In the gas-generating capsule 2 shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, a half 21a of the vessel 21, which is partitioned by the partition film 22, is made of a flexible material and it is depressed and deformed to eliminate the partition film 22. The other half 21b of the vessel 21 is made of a hard material so that the vessel 21 can withstand a depressive force or impact, while the vessel 21 itself will not be destroyed. The half 21a of the vessel 21 is made of a synthetic material having mazelike pores. The half 21a is permeable only to the gas G to prevent a liquid or the like from leaking outside the vessel 21. The gas G, which is permeated through the vessel 21, is filled into the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1 to expand the cavity 13, by cubical expension of the gas G, thereby forming an impact-resistant space (FIG. 3). At this time, the spot-welded portions 14 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1 prevent local abnormal expansion of the impact resistant space. For this reason, the impact-resistant wrapping function for the article P can be made uniform around the article P. This gas-generating capsule 2 is preferably protected from an accidental impact by a protective ring 3 in FIG. 5 or a dishlike foamed resin material 4, as shown in FIG. 6. In addition, an exhaust-air valve 5, which communicates with the cavity 13 and which is capable of exhausting the gas G outside the cavity 13, is mounted in the sheetlike wrapping body 1 of this embodiment. The exhaust-air valve 5 comprises a projecting piece 51 which slightly extends from one side of the sheetlike wrapping body 1, having an almost rectangular shape, and it is obtained by extending the corresponding seal portion 12 along the edge of this side, while a seal piece 52 is partially fixed to an outer surface 11b of the flexible wall member 11 near the projecting piece 51 and a pressure-sensitive adhesive 53 is applied to a nonfixed surface of the seal piece 52 on the side of flexible wall member 11. As shown in FIG. 7, when the distal end portion of the projecting piece 51 is cut, the gas G, which has been feled into the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1, can be exhausted. As shown in FIG. 8, a tube T, such as a straw, is inserted from the cut end of the projecting piece 51 to allow injection of the gas or air into the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1. As shown in FIG. 9, after the gas G, air or the like is injected into the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1, the projecting piece 51 is folded toward the side of sheetlike wrapping body 1. The seal piece 52 is placed on the folded portion and adhered thereto by means of the pressure-sensitive adhesive 53. Then, the injected gas G, air or the like is sealed into the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1. As shown in FIG. 10, an adhesive 54, which allows multiple adhesion or peeling, can be applied to the inner surface of the projecting piece 51 of the exhaust-air valve 5, thereby obtaining a simple structure. According to this embodiment, a portion for wrapping the article P comprises a thin, sheetlike, flexible wrapping body having a deformable shape and material to conform to any shape. As shown in FIG. 11, the article P can be tightly wrapped like a wrapping paper. As shown in FIG. 12, folded portions 6 may be partially formed to obtain a square envelope. In addition, articles P having a variety of shapes and sizes can be wrapped. After the article P is wrapped (or before an article is wrapped depending on a wrapping form), the gas-generating capsule, which is accommodated in the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1, needs only to be pressed in order to fill the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1 with the gas G, forming thereby the impact resistant space and hence wrapping the article P for purposes of impact resistance. Therefore, the article P can always be wrapped in a very simple operation. When the impact-resistant space interferes with the unwrapping of the article P, the gas G is exhausted from the cavity 13 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1 through the exhaust-air valve 5, eliminating thereby the impact-resistant space. After the article P is unwrapped, the wrapping system can be used again by injecting the gas G, air or the like through the exhaust-air valve 5. FIG. 13 shows an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the seal portions 12 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1 of the first embodiment are extended to form three cavity compartments 13. A gas-generating capsule 2 and an exhaust-air valve 5 are arranged in each cavity compartment 13. A mark 7 is formed on an outer surface 11b of a flexible wall member 11 in a position where the corresponding gas-generating capsule 2 is accommodated. According to this embodiment, only a cavity compartment or compartments necessary for wrapping an article with impact resistance are selected, and a gas is produced from the gas-generating capsule or capsules 2 only in the selected cavity compartment or compartments, obtaining thereby a suitable impact-resistant wrapping form for the article P. Even if the flexible wall member 11 is damaged and leaks the gas G, this leakage is limited only to the corresponding cavity compartment, while the impact-resistant space of the entire sheetlike wrapping body 1 is not lost. In addition, since the gas-generating capsule 2 can be depressed when depressing it in the position of each mark 7, the position of the gas-generating capsule 2 can be easily found. FIG. 14 shows an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the flexible wall member 11 of the sheetlike wrapping body of the first embodiment comprises a three-layered structure, and seal portions 12 are formed at the four sides of a sheetlike wrapping body to stack two layers of cavity 13. A gas-generaing capsule 2 and an exhaust-air valve 5 are arranged in each cavity layer 13. The seal portions 12 partially extend into the place of the spot-welded portion 14. According to this embodiment, the impact spaces having the two-layered structure are formed to improve impact-resistant wrapping. In addition, a gas is generated from the gas-generaing capsule or capsules of a cavity layer or layers necessary for wrapping the article for purposes of impact resistance to obtain a suitable impact-resistant wrapping form for the article P. If the cavity layers are selectively expanded, the wrapping system can be used at least twice without injection of a gas G, air or the like. This embodiment can be combined with the second embodiment. FIGS. 15 and 16 show an impact-resistant wrapping system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, connecting means 8 consisting of male and female velvet fasteners are attached to the outer surface of the flexible wall member 11 of the sheetlike wrapping body 1 of the first embodiment so as to make it possible to deform and fold the sheetlike wrapping body 1 into two. An elastic impact resistant material 9 is compressed and accommodated in a cavity 13 of a sheetlike wrapping body 1. According to this embodiment, an article P can be easily wrapped, using the connecting means 8. Even if the flexible wall member 11 is damaged and leaks a gas G during wrapping, the impact-resistant space can be guaranteed to some extent by the elastic impact resistant material 9. In addition to the illustrated embodiment described above, tne connecting means 8 can be variously improved on and applied in the forms of a bag, a plaster cast, a paster bandage, soft flower wrapping and the like.

Claims: Impact-resistant protective device comprising a sheet-like wrapping body (1) having a cavity (13) surrounded by a flexible wall member (11) with gas barrier properties and a gas-generating member (2) in which at least two types of materials which are mixed to generate a gas for inflating the cavity (13) of the sheet-like wrapping body (1), characterized in that said gas-generating member (2) is formed in a capsule in which said materials are separately sealed so as to be mixed with each by depressing said capsule, said capsule being provided in at least one part thereof with a portion permeable only to a gas and accommodated in the cavity (13) of said sheet-like wrapping body (1). A system according to Claim 1, wherein the inner surfaces of the said flexible wall member (11) of the said sheet-like wrapping body (1) and on which inner surfaces opposing each other via the cavity (13), are partially adhered to. A system according to Claim 1, wherein the cavity (13) of the said sheet-like wrapping body (1) is partitioned into a plurality of compartments, and the said gas-generating capsule (2) is accommodated in each of the said compartments. A system according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the cavity (13) of the said sheet-like wrapping body (1) is defined by a plurality of cavity layers stacked on each other, and the said gas-generating capsule (2) is accommodated in each one of the stacked layers. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising connecting means (8) mounted on an outer surface of a flexible wall member (11) to hold the said sheetlike wrapping body (1) in an appropriate shape. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising an elastic impact resistant material (9) which is compressed and accommodated in the cavity (13) of the said sheetlike wrapping body (1). A system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein an exhaust-air valve (5) is mounted to communicate with the cavity (13) of the said sheetlike wrapping body (1) in order to exhaust the gas outside the cavity (13). A system according to claim 7, wherein the said exhaust-air valve (5) has a structure capable of reinjecting a gas, air or the like again into the cavity (13) of the said sheetlike wrapping body (1) and of sealing the cavity (13).

Inventors: JASZAI ZOLTAN KAZMER, JASZAI, ZOLTAN KAZMER
Applicants: BURLINGTON CONS LTD, JASZAI ZOLTAN KAZMER, BURLINGTON CONSOLIDATED LIMITED INCORPORATION, JASZAI, ZOLTAN KAZMER
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B65D81
IPC codes: B65D81, B65D30, B65D33